Entrepreneurs Could Get Expanded Help from Revamped SBA Programs

By Caleb Groos on May 13, 2009 3:17 PM

Today the U.S. House Committee on Small Business is considering a bill that would expand the Small Business Administration's (SBA's) entrepreneurial development programs. The bill aims to support entrepreneurship nationwide, within specific regions and within specific demographic groups.

As reported by the Central Valley Business Times, the "Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act of 2009" would be the first major revision of the SBA's entrepreneurship programs in more than 10 years. Along with changes to specific programs, the bill would call on the SBA to create and present a plan to Congress for how it will create jobs through entrepreneurial development programs (both nationally and within specific regions).

The bill also calls for the SBA to:

Establish a Veterans Business Center Program;

Educate entrepreneurs through modern technology (through third party vendors);

In her opening statement during today's Committee meeting on the bill, Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez harkened back to the role played by small companies after the early 1990's recession. She pointed out that "[a]fter the recession of the early 1990s, small firms created approximately 3.8 million new positions. That number outdid large firms by half a million. During that time, it was often the laid-off factory worker or the downsized corporate executive who decided to start a business. In fact, nearly 25 percent of downsized managers over the age of 40 started their own firms."

The bill's sponsors hope that putting more energy into effectively helping new and existing entrepreneurs can spark similar job creation.